Scout's Honor
by Scout73
Summary: [Chapter 5 posted] queens joins the strike.
1. The Great New York Fire

A/N: I was sick of Mary-Sues. What else can I say? Oh yeah. This is about my favorite character, Scout. My character. Though I've let people put her in their stories, this is really what she's all about. Well, I guess I should say me. Because Scout is my penname…so…yeah. R&R please! Oh and I promise this isn't going to turn into a Mary-Sue!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Except Nellie 'Scout' Harris. She's mine. Everything else belongs to someone else…because everything is owned by someone else these days…

Oh yeah, the news_boys_ won the strike. Like they could do that all on their own. They wouldn't have gotten anywhere without us girls in the shadows. We're the ones who had the idea to recruit all of the laborers, not theirs. Yeah, it wasn't Jack's brilliant idea. It was mine. I'm Nellie Harris, but I'm known to everyone as Scout. you've never seen me before, because I'm from Queens. But it wasn't just Manhattan and Brooklyn that were involved. that's just what it was made out to seem like. Queens had a much larger amount of girls, and the Manhattan and Brooklyn boys didn't want to be overshadowed by a bunch of "weak girls". to tell the truth, I officially became a Newsie in Manhattan, but not like most girls you hear about. It wasn't "runaway girl finds Newsies and falls in love with one of them". no, that wasn't it at all. Those boys aren't as kind and excepting as they are made out to be. Maybe it was because I lied, stole, and cheated them…a lot. I'm actually nicknamed for my lying. But hey, a girl's gotta eat right?

It all started when I first saw them lying to all their unsuspecting customers. I thought it would be fun to beat them at their own game. So I walked straight up to one of them, a tall brown-haired one with glasses, and put on my most dollish face. I said in the sweetest voice I could manage,

"excuse me sir, but I noticed that you weren't selling many papers. Maybe if you told people that your paper contained information on that huge fire down the street, they would buy it." the boy looked me over like I was a lunatic. But then his eyes narrowed behind the round glasses.

"are you sure dere's a fire? I don't see no smoke." he was right. There was no smoke or flames rising from anywhere visible to us.

"well, you can't see it from here, but when I was coming here, I saw it." he was still hesitant to believe my lie.

"how can I believe you? I don't even know ya."

"Scout's honor" I answered as I flipped my blonde hair and strode away. A cocky smile crept onto my face as I heard him yelling about the "fire". I turned around to see people giving him odd, disgusted looks as he shot me one of his own. I laughed and ran down the street to the alley where I had been living with my sister Mary for the whole summer. My sister was ten, me being 14. We weren't living in a penthouse or anything, but after our parents had dumped us, anyplace was good. We really didn't mind sleeping on the streets. Its not as bad as it was said to be. But that damn newsie had to follow me. 

"Ya fuckin' liar!" he cried painfully as he spotted me in the alley.

"hey, watch the language. She's only ten" I retorted with a scold. My sister just rolled her eyes. She hated it when I treated her differently just because she was younger. 

"Well den you shouldn't be teachin' 'er to lie!" he yelled furiously.

"I didn't. you were the one who lied" I think I stumped him. He just looked at me questioningly. I couldn't help but to laugh a little.

"I never said I was telling the truth about the fire." I started to explain.

"but you gave your honah!" he couldn't keep his face from turning red from anger.

"no, I said 'Scout's Honor'. and I'm not a scout. So it doesn't mean a thing." my smile was sickeningly sweet. The boy gave a growl of frustration as he about-faced and strode down the street.

"lying is bad." I told my sister as she got up and we went out to steal some food. 

A/N: hey I think I actually liked that! I know, it's short. But its just the beginning. I wouldn't just leave the story like that. that's just kind of weird…. Have you reviewed yet? Well, the button is right there. *points to 'Go' button* just click it. I don't care if you don't have much to say, or if you want to flame. don't flame to be mean though. Only if you truly think my story needs work. a lot of work. 

~!~Scout~!~


	2. Queensies

A/N: another chapter! Please oh please tell me if you like it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except my Queensies. Well, except Rooster. She's not mine. She belongs to Repeat. 

After that day, I started to think about becoming a newsie myself. I hadn't seen any girls in Manhattan, but I had seen quite a few in Queens. So that was where Mary and I were headed today. We passed some of the girls, but we decided that we should wait until they were all at the lodging house before we asked them. So we just hung out all day until nightfall when we made sure that no more girls were still out on the street. The sun was finally setting and the mosquitoes were starting to bite. Mary was hesitant and opted that we wait till morning, but I was sick of waiting. I marched up to the door and knocked on the front door. After a minute or two, an old woman opened the door and looked at me suspiciously.

"Can I help you?" she asked flintily. 

"Uh, can I, uh…we…sign up to be newsgirls?" wow. I meant for that to come out a lot clearer. She probably thought I was a wimp and wouldn't want to let me have a job.

"It's not up to me, but I do have two extra beds upstairs. If you have money, then you can start selling in the morning. If you don't have any money, I'm sure one of the girls will lend you some and you can pay them back. The rent for a week here is two cents. If you think you can pay that, get yourselves settled on the bunks upstairs." we agreed with an understanding nod and headed up the stairs into a large room filled with teenage girls. Nobody seemed to notice us at first, until a very short, curly-haired girl ran up to one of the older girls and tugged on her shirt. She whispered in her ear, and the tall one looked up and strode over to us swiftly. 

"Hey I'm Striker. Leader of da Queens goils. Who are you?" she asked as she stuck out her hand.

"I'm Nellie and this is my sister Mary." I shook her hand.

"Follow me. Your beds will be over here." she beckoned us towards the only empty bunk in the room. 

"top or bottom, doesn't matter." she said. I shrugged to Mary and let her take the bottom. I climbed up onto the top bunk, smoothing the sheets across the bed. I hadn't slept in a bed since the beginning of the summer. 

Best. Sleep. Ever. A little creepy…but still the best. absolutely no comparison. Even when I was still living with my parents, I didn't sleep like that. The girls are really nice too. There was Striker, Taps, Flicker, Klutz, Ringer, Tails, Rooster, and about ten others. I instantly become friends with Striker and Tails, both being my age. Taps was my sister's age, and the rest were scattered among us. After we had talked a bit, I learned that some of the others had issues with Manhattan as well. Ringer said she used to date Skittery, but he was cheating on her, so she dumped him and came here. They explained some of their nicknames to me too, like Taps would play taps on her bugle every night, and Striker told everyone that he family had struck a gold lode[1] out west, but then her crazy uncle stole it and gambled it all away. Most of the girls were happy and social, but there was one that sat alone on her bunk just staring at the empty wall in front of her. Striker said that her name was Eliza. I asked what was wrong with her, but she said nothing. She said that she never spoke to anyone, and nobody ever saw her selling though she bought papers every morning and afternoon and never had any left over. Something about this girl just crept me out. She had jet-black hair, pale white skin, she looked as if she hadn't ever eaten; I could clearly see the two bones that make up her wrist through the tight stretch of skin across them. Her face was sunken, but could have been lovely if she awoke from the current state she was in. 

"Eliza used to be the happiest girl here, before her two most beloved people in her life died within a week of each other. First her little sister Isabella died in a fire, then her…her…her daughter. We don't know how she died, but she had always been a sickly thing." Striker told me, her voice jus above a whisper. I could understand the grief that dominated Eliza's life.

"How long ago?" I asked, directing my question at Striker but looking at Eliza. 

"A year" Striker told me, though I could have sworn I saw Eliza's grayish lips mouth a date. She was listening. She probably knew more about what was going on than any other girl in the room. Her dull eyes quickly locked with mine, and then back to the wall. I wasn't freaked out by her anymore. I was intrigued. I wanted to find out what she knew; if she knew anything about me. I know, she's not psychic or anything, but when she looked at me, I felt like she was inside my head saying 

"I know about you. You don't remember me do you? Well I remember you."

So I waited until everyone else was asleep- except for Snoozer, because she slept during the day and was awake all night, but she was up on the roof. I crept over to Eliza's bunk. She was still awake, staring up at the top of her bunk. I knelt down next to her, and lightly touched her arm. She slowly rolled her head to face me, then just stared- waiting for me to say something.

"Uh, hi. I'm Nellie" I whispered. She nodded lethargically, already knowing.

"Do I know you?" I asked impulsively. I had noticed how familiar she looked when I first saw her. She nodded slowly again.

"From where?" I wanted to know more, but she didn't want to share. She just rolled over and went back to staring at the bunk overhead. 

A/N: [1] a vein in the ground (gold, silver, copper, etc.)

A/N: so how'd ya like it? Please let me know! 

Shoutouts!!

Trinny: Thanks for reviewing! I'm sorry, I couldn't wait for your character. I can still accept her though. Please be hasty and send it to me! 

Nobody else reviewed….*cries*


	3. Meeting Everyone

A/N: I think I'm going to dedicate this chapter to all the people who lent me their characters, especially the ones who I bugged constantly on how I should make their character. 

Disclaimer: Characters that aren't mine- Rooster (belonging to Repeat) Saturday (belonging to…Saturday…duh) Milkshake (belonging to padfootismyhero) Alaska, Hypes, and Mandy (belonging to Matchin' Laces) Braids (belonging to Pyro*Blaze) 

Chapter 3.

So after my little conference with Eliza, I got to thinking. I thought for about an hour when I realized I wasn't getting anywhere. So I decided to go to sleep. I was woken up by a rude poke from Mrs. Yeardler the next morning to see all the other girls were grumblingly falling out of their beds and heading towards the washroom. I decided to join them, or else I would never get out of bed. In the washroom, I started to talk to Saturday. She had brown hair that went about three inches past her shoulders, I determined, hazelish eyes, and she was about my height. She was very quirky and funny, and I enjoyed talking to her. She invited me to sell with her, and I agreed. All seventeen or so of us flooded out of the lodging house and to the distribution center. Saturday lent me some money to buy papers, since I had yet to make any money. 

"so where do you wanna sell?" she asked after we had bought our papers.

"doesn't matter. As long as its not near Manhattan." I told her.

"Why not Manhattan? You gotta problem with my boys over there?" she asked, with a little bit of laughter in her voice. But then there was always a bit of laughter in her voice.

"well lets just say, one of them doesn't like me too much…" I said as we headed down the street.

"Which one? I bet it was Specs huh? Tall guy with brown hair and glasses?" 

"Yeah! How did you know?" I was actually surprised that she knew who I was talking about before I have even started talking about him.

"Oh, he doesn't like anyone. Even Skittery is more friendly then him. Specs is kinda like an over protective puppy I guess…" she trailed off, starting to ramble to herself. A good few minutes later, she finally stopped and asked me what my angle was. I skimmed the headlines and picked one I could embellish. To my surprise, there actually was a fire yesterday, just on Coney Island.

"FIRE ENGULFS CONEY ISLAND!" Saturday called, drawing attention from passersby. My call was similar, and we both sold about equal amounts of papers. I saw Mary on the next corner with Taps, and she waved to me and smiled with a huge white smile. 

"HUGE FIRE WIPES OUT CONEY ISLAND! NO SURVIVORS!" that was my headline. Both Saturday and I sold all our papers in record time…well, according to her. I didn't really know what the upholding record was. It was too early for lunch, so we decided to wander the streets for a little while. Saturday was babbling on about something or other…I was paying attention…but she would jump from subject to subject so fast it was hard to follow her sometimes. While I was trying to pay attention to her though, I wasn't paying attention to where I was heading. We found ourselves in the middle of Manhattan. Saturday saw a short, brown-haired boy with a cigar in his mouth and ran over to give him a big hug. 

"Nellie! Come here! This is my buddy Race! Come say hi!" Saturday called from across the street. I was hoping that she didn't attract too much attention to me, and that that Specs kid wasn't around. I hurried across the street and met up with her.

"Hi I'm Nellie" I said as I held my hand out for him to shake.

"da name's Race" he said as he shook my hand. I looked around sporadically for Specs.

"Hey Race is Specs around?" Saturday asked randomly.

"Uh yeah. You wanna talk to him? SPECS!" I pulled on Saturday's sleeve and gave her a panicked look, but she just replied with a wide, oblivious smile. Specs came walking over calmly, not seeing me at first.

"Yeah Race?" he asked. Obviously he didn't see Saturday or me in my vain attempts to hide behind her. 

"Oh hey Sats!" he finally noticed her. It was only a matter of time before he noticed me, but it would have been a longer time if Saturday didn't introduce me.

"Hey Specs! This is my friend Nellie, she's new. She said that you don't like her. Specs, were you being UNFRIENDLY again?" she was so weird. 

"hey! You're the goil who made me look like an idiot!" he cried. I nodded shyly and painfully. Then I found my guts though.

"well, there actually was a fire yesterday. So I didn't really lie. And as I told you, I didn't lie anyway." a smile struck my face as I stared at him. He just made some pathetic gurgling noise. Saturday just shrugged her shoulders and dragged me away with her.

"So what did you say to him exactly?" Saturday asked after we had left the boys-one confused and the other one glaring. 

"Well, I was watching him lie about his headlines, so I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. I told him that there was a fire down the street, and he wanted to know if I promised. I said 'Scout's Honor'. but I'm not a Scout. So that doesn't mean anything. He just didn't know that." Saturday was laughing by now. We kept walking and ended up strolling into Mama Nuss's Restaurant. It was close to lunch time anyway. Saturday said that Mama Nuss's is to Queens as Tibby's is to Manhattan. When we got there, we sat down at a table with Striker, Tails, Milkshake, Alaska, Hypes, and Mandy. Alaska, Hypes, and Mandy could very well be sisters. Except for the fact they looked nothing alike. They did everything together and were virtually inseparable. Alaska had light brown hair, almost translucent blue eyes, and was about five foot two. Hypes, on the other hand, was about six feet tall, but still with light brown hair and blue eyes. Mandy was five foot three and had dark brown hair that ended at her shoulders and dark chocolate eyes. The girls had very different personalities as well. You'd think that they would clash, but they just complimented each other (A/N: sounds like they are clothes huh?) Alaska was quiet, Hypes was well…hyper, and Mandy was very loud and outspoken. Tails _was _Striker's sister. Her twin in fact. Not identical though, so I didn't realize it until they told me. Tails had strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and was about 5'4". Striker had red hair, green eyes, and was about 5'7". she looked more like Rooster, who had almost the same description, but Rooster had very green, almost florescent eyes while Striker's were a little duller. Milkshake was Tails' best friend. Milkshake had light brown hair, hazel eyes, and was about two inches shorter than Tails. Both of the girls were quiet, but Milkshake could take any guy and beat the crap out of them any day if she had to. While waiting for our food, we got to talking.

"Hey guys guess who Nellie and I talked to today!" Saturday announced. She then went into detail about our conversation today, and what I had said to Specs the first time I had met him. 

"Haha! Our little Scout!" Rooster said, laughing. 

~**~

"Hey guys! I just got a great idea!" Striker announced from Tails' bunk. 

"Uh oh" Braids grumbled from her bunk. Striker shot her a look telling her to watch her mouth, then preceded to explain her idea.

"Let's go down to Brooklyn Harbor! It's a great night and it's a waste to be stuck inside when you're as hyper as I am right now!" 

"I'd love to go!" Milkshake answered enthusiastically.

"Ah, that's just because you wanna see Spot!" Rooster cried as she threw her pillow at her. The two girls continued to argue playfully.

"Who's Spot?" I quietly asked Saturday.

"Da leader of Brooklyn. Datin' Milkshake. She's da only one 'ere who's had more den one newsie boyfriend. She's just a sucker for woikin boys I guess." I laughed a little, then I realized that this was my opportunity to talk to Eliza.

"You comin' Scout?" I didn't realize that Saturday was talking to me.

"Huh?" I asked cluelessly. 

"You comin' to Brooklyn with us?" she asked again, though she didn't sound the least bit irritated by my flakiness. 

"Uh, I'll meet you there." she shrugged and got up to join the other girls as they left the bunkroom. As soon as they were all gone, I slowly walked over to Eliza's bunk, where she sat staring at the wall. 

"Eliza?" no answer. I obviously wasn't expecting an answer, but I still had to try.

"last night you said that I knew you, but you didn't tell me from where." she turned to look at me, and I saw deep into her dull bluish-gray eyes. that's when I realized where I knew her from. I remembered her now.

__

*flashback*

I was walking down the street, when I saw my father there. He was standing, cornering a young girl with black hair into an alley. I ducked out of sight, but still watching him. He laughed cruelly, and unbuckled his belt. I didn't want to see anymore. I got up and ran, but not before I had caught the eye of the terrified girl. She looked deep into my eyes, pleading for help. I didn't know what to do though. I wasn't myself. I just ran, not thinking about what my father was about to do to her. I ran all the way home, tears streaming down my red face. I always knew my father played around, but I didn't think he would go as far as to rape innocent girls. My father hadn't seen me, and I knew I couldn't tell anyone. He never liked me much, and I was pretty confident that he wouldn't hesitate to dispose of me. 

__

*end flashback*

"Oh my God." that was all I could say. I didn't know what to do again. But she did. She nodded, knowing that I remembered. Then she nodded towards the door, telling me to go to Brooklyn Harbor. So I went. I couldn't think of any words to say to Eliza, and I really could use the long, lonely walk to the docks of Brooklyn to think. I had blocked that day out. I mean, who wouldn't block out the memory of their dad raping some girl? Then a thought hit me. Her baby and I shared a father. 

A/N: please! Review! Now! I'll love you forever if you do!!!

Shout-outs:

*Saturday- I hope you approve of how I used you! Lol. I made you a lot like Famous actually…hope you liked it!

*Padfootismyhero- thanks for Milkshake! I hope you are okay with how I perceived her!

*Matchin' Laces- thanks for your characters!

*Blue Boxer- I know you reviewed! I'm such a blonde, I thought Trinny was the only one to review because I didn't see your review alert email when I was typing it up! I went back and looked at my reviews online, and I saw you were one of my two reviews! Very sorry! 

*Pyro*Blaze- Thanks for your character! 

*Miserylovescompany- I'm sorry I didn't use any of your characters in this chapter. Maybe if I need some later on, I'll ask you for them. So many people applied for it at once I didn't have a chance really to add them all in. sorry!

*Sparks- sorry I didn't use your character…maybe I'll add her in later.

*piratechic- sorry I haven't used your character yet…I shall get around to it. One-liner maybe. Your review was so interesting! I love Pink Floyd! My brother made me listen to it once and after that I stole his CD and refused to return it. Lol. 

*Trinny- that's ok! You still haven't sent me the info though! 

*Specs-65- thank you for reviewing both of the chapters! 

*DodgerMcClure- I may be asking you for the character later on. Thanks for reviewing though!

Wow….I had a lot more reviewers than I thought! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I love you all!!! Thank you again! Much love,

~!~Scouters~!~


	4. The Best View in the City

A/N: I have come out from hiding to post my newest chapter! *hears wild applause* I hope you like it, R&R right now!! I order you!

"Hey! Scout's here!" Lucky, a tall girl with blonde hair and brown eyes called when she saw me. I smiled a half-smile, deciding to forget about Eliza and just have fun. A boy with sandy blonde hair turned around to look at me. He had blue eyes that I could see even in the dark, and an arm wrapped around Milkshake's waist. 

"Spot! This is Scout! Say hi!" Saturday shouted from across the dock. I looked down, shaking my head as a little laugh escaped my lips. The boy stood up and walked over to me. He spit in his hand and held it out for me.

"I'm Spot Conlon. Nice to meet ya." I looked at his spitty hand, and was about to shake it when Saturday came up out of nowhere and wiped his hand with her handkerchief. 

"Girls don't do that, remember Spotty?" she said loudly. He just rolled his eyes and went back to Milkshake's side. We all sat down along the pier, and just talked. The moon was starting to get high up in the sky, so we finally decided to disperse. We started walking back to the lodging house, after we had all said goodbye to Spot, virtually dragging Milkshake away. The lodging house was dark when we returned. Only the faint light from Mrs. Yeardler's room was still on. We quietly climbed back up the fire escape, so we didn't wake her. I had completely forgotten about Eliza- not because I didn't care enough, but that I didn't want to remember. I didn't want to remember that my father had impregnated her. But I did wonder why she hadn't tried to contact us and expose my father. I decided that the next morning, I was going to follow her to her selling spot and ask her. But for tonight, I was to sleep. It was already past midnight, and Mrs. Yeardler would kill us if we were still away. 

A/N: ok, I meant to add this to the last chapter. Oops! So I just stuck it onto this one. Ok so now you can read what I actually meant for this chapter.

__

~^back to the story^~

I was again poked back to consciousness the next morning. I followed my normal routine, washing, drying, and flooding out of the lodging house with the rest of the girls. I had a different plan for this morning though. Today, instead of selling with Saturday, I was going to follow Eliza and some answers. So after I had bought my papers, I told Saturday that I would meet back with her later and invisibly followed Eliza. She obviously didn't like to sell anywhere near Queens, because after about ten minutes, I found myself sneaking through the Bowery. She finally stopped, glanced over the paper in her hand, and yelled in that vaguely familiar voice I had heard that summer day a year ago her headline. I waited for a minute or two, rehearsing what I was going to say. I took a deep breath and walked up to her, tapping her on the shoulder. She turned around, probably expecting a customer, and her eyes widened when she saw me. She looked very vulnerable for a second, but quickly recovered her mysterious shield. I forgot what I as going to say at first, but then I took a second to recollect my thoughts. She grabbed my arm and dragged me into an deserted alley. I opened my mouth to speak, but she spoke first. 

"Why didn't I ever ask for help from your father? I did. He didn't care though. He shut the door in my face. You were there. You just have to remember." then I did remember. Whenever I was around her I rediscovered suppressed memories.

__

*flashback*

__

I was sitting in my living room, mending a hole that was in the side of my sister's shoe. I heard a knock at the front door and got up to answer it. My father beat me to it though, so I went back to my chair to finish the mending. I did pay attention to the conversation at the door though. I heard a girl's voice, pleading with my father.

"It's your fault! You should at least give me money to feed her!" the girl was on the verge of tears. I could hear it in her voice.

"No. now get the hell away from my apartment you whore." my father answered coldly. Then the door was slammed shut. My father walked over to me and put his face menacingly close to mine. His breath reeked of beer and cigarette smoke as he spoke in a low growl.

"You didn't hear anything did you?" I didn't answer. I felt a sharp sting blaze across my left cheek as his thick hand struck my face.

"did you!?" he hissed again. I shook my head, not allowing the tears to come. My cheek was smarting, and I feared for myself greatly. He was drunk and angry, and I wasn't going to doubt what he was capable of. He stood up straight and glared at me.

"If you tell anyone, I'll kill you. Got it bitch?" I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn't move. After that, I wished I couldn't feel anything. At that moment, I felt a blunt fist connect with my gut, causing me to fall to the floor in pain. Then a steel-toed boot struck my temple. I could feel a line of warm blood trickle over my eye just before I blacked out.

I awoke with a throbbing headache, a blood-crusted temple, and a bruise on my stomach. I never told anyone about that day. Not that anyone asked, especially my mother. She was off prostituting like she did every night. I don't even want to know what my father did to me while I was blacked out. I had completely forgotten about the girl at the door.

__

*End Flashback*

I touched the light line of raised scar tissue that still remained on my right temple. I had forgotten that Eliza was there, but when I looked back up from the ground, she wasn't. she had left. I searched the streets, looking for her, but I couldn't find her anywhere. I finally realized that it was about eleven and I hadn't sold one paper. I couldn't think though. I decided to go back to Saturday. When I found her, she was almost done selling her papers. I finally found a worthy headline, and quickly sold my papers. We headed towards Mama Nuss's for lunch.

"I talked to Race today" Saturday told me.

"Don't you talk to him everyday?" I questioned.

"well, yeah, but today he actually had something to tell me" she paused to make sure I was listening. I looked at her, silently prodding her along.

"he said that Manhattan is going on strike" I looked at her questioningly.

"why?" I asked.

"well, ya know how the price was raised today? Well they say that the can't afford it! They aren't as good of sellers as Queens is I guess, huh?" she answered, laughing a little.

"did they ask us to join?" I asked after a brief moment of thought. Saturday looked up at the cloudless sky, thinking, letting her mouth hang open carelessly.

"no" she answered finally. And that was that. We arrived at Mama Nuss's and forgot all about the strike. I didn't forget about Eliza or my father though. The scar on my temple seemed more visible now, and Eliza was still missing in action. I didn't eat anything at the restaurant. I was too busy reenacting those two days over a year ago when Eliza had made her brief cameos into my life. I couldn't believe I had forgotten about what I had seen, but I had. I guess I just did what some little kids did when someone changed their life in some horrible way. Instead of dealing with it, I discarded all the memories connected with it. I realized that I was pitying myself. I knew that what happened to me was so much less scarring than what had happened to Eliza. I still couldn't get over what a horrible person my father had turned into. He used to be the best dad ever back when my brother was alive. He had big plans for him, but when he died, all those plans died too. My father would go out to bars and stay there all night, gambling away all of our money. That's why mama became a prostitute. We needed money badly, my father got fired from his job and she had no skills, so she put her feminity to use. My younger sister doesn't even remember when they were decent parents. She was only three when Paul died. There was a very long, sullen period when nobody in our family wore colored clothes or even smiled. I didn't talk for about a month. He was my twin brother. We were best friends. 

"Womb to tomb, birth to earth [1]" we used to tell each other. My dad took the death the worst. I, even though I am still not the same, have moved on. Papa hasn't. Mama has, and so has Mary. But not Papa. He lost a lot of himself when Paul was killed. Maybe because he wasn't able to protect him.

__

*flashback*

"Papa!" eight-year-old Paul cried as he hurried down the street towards his father. 

"Hurry up boy! The race is gonna be over by the time we get to the tracks!" John Harris called with a smile. He was taking his son to the racetrack for the boy's birthday. All of a sudden, something lurched onto the sidewalk out of nowhere. There were screams and smashing of wood and neighing horses. John looked frantically for his young son, until he finally found his limp body. He had a hug bloody gash across his face. John could hear struggled, almost strangled breaths from the small body. Everyone was crowding around, some people were calling for help. Policemen arrived, and they took Paul to a local hospital, but they said they could do little for him. John was in shock. All he could do was sit by his dying son's bed and cry. The rest of the family was called in. mother, twin sister, and baby sister. The whole family cried all day and all night, not leaving the boy's side. Sometimes the Olivia Harris would sing to him, sometimes Nellie would sit and talk to him. 

"You can't leave me. Womb to tomb, remember?" she would whisper occasionally through tears. The pain did not last long for the boy, for he passed just a day after the accident.

*End Flashback*

We had a small funeral for my brother, and after that my father really hit it hard. He started gambling and drinking as if it would bring Paul back. It never did, but he kept drinking and Mama kept prostituting. 

"Scout??" I felt someone shake my shoulder worriedly. 

"Huh?" I mutter ed as I awoke from my thoughts.

"We're leaving now. You coming?" Saturday asked, showing more concern and seriousness than I had ever seen her show before.

"Uh, yeah" I answered as I stoop up and followed the rest of the girls out. We all headed back to the lodging house because we still had some time before the afternoon edition was released. Eliza was still nowhere to be found.

"Scout, do you know where Eliza could possibly be?" Striker asked me quietly. 

"Well, I know that she doesn't sell near Queens. I followed her all the way to the Bowery today." I answered, not mentioning that after I had talked to her she had disappeared. 

"Would you mind goin' wit a few oddah goils 'n' look fer 'er?" she asked.

"Sure" I answered. So a bunch of us, Lucky, Trinny, Sparks, and a few others, headed onto the street. I directed the group over to the Bowery and searched around there for a bit. Then we decided to split up into smaller search parties and cover more ground that way. We searched for hours, and still no Eliza. It was already quite dark when we regrouped and went back to the lodging house. When we returned to the lodging house, everyone was in their beds. They weren't sleeping though, for when we entered the room, most of them sat up or looked down from their bunks. Striker walked out from the shadows of her bunk and strode over to me. She was frowning.

"Didn't find her?" she asked, but there wasn't much question in her voice. I shook my head solemnly and she faded back into the darkness of the room. The rest of us headed to our own bunks and fell asleep quickly despite our consciences. The next morning was still quiet and depressed. Eliza was still nowhere to be found and I felt the most responsible for her disappearance. We bought our papers, sold them, and returned to the lodging house. None of use felt like going to Mama Nuss's for dinner. As soon as we entered the bunkroom, our eyes shot to Eliza's bunk to see if she had possibly returned. She had, but hadn't stayed. There was a note on her pillow though. Striker noticed it first. We all hurried over to read it, or have it read to us. Striker read it to herself first, with a question in her eyes. She handed it to me and I read it to myself.

__

Dear Scout,

Thank you. You have set me free. Now that you know the truth, I can finally be with the ones I truly love. The view up here is great.

-Eliza-

My face was as white as the paper in my hand. It took me a minute to comprehend what I was reading. _she…killed herself?_

"Oh my God" I whispered faintly. I looked up at Striker, who had the same look on her face. My breathing quickened. I felt so guilty. This was my fault. I handed the note back to her and turned to fly out of the room and onto the midday streets. I started running, as fast as I could, down the street. I didn't know where I was going, but judging by all the harbors, I decided I was somewhere in Brooklyn. I ran past the Brooklyn boys' lodging house, where I could easily see Spot sitting on the roof, cane in front of his bent knees. He saw me too, and stood up. I could see him run back into the building, probably to come out and follow me. I didn't want him to. I wanted to be alone. I was afraid of what he would think and say. I didn't want to be alone either. I was more afraid of what _I _would think. His words would hurt, but my thoughts would eat me alive. I ran faster, but I couldn't escape him for long. He was faster than me and also hadn't been running for as long as me.

"Hey whaddaya doin' out 'ere?" he asked when he reached me.

"Nice night for a jog don't ya think?" I asked, slightly winded. I finally slowed to a walk and he heeled beside me. 

"Why are ya really out here?" I didn't want to answer, so I didn't. we continued walking in silence and found ourselves on an empty pier. We both sat down at the edge and let our now shoeless feet graze the cold ocean water.

"You can ell me ya know. I ain't one ta judge" spot said quietly. I gulped and looked down at the black, rippled water under my feet.

"I may have indirectly killed someone" I choked out.

"Indirectly?" I then proceeded to spill my guts to him without meaning to. When I was finished, I couldn't bear to look up and meet his eyes.

"Don't cry. It's not yer fault. Seems to me that you gave 'er what she really wanted" I didn't even know I was crying. He was right though, but I still couldn't really bring myself to be forgiven.

"But if it weren't for me she would still be alive" I pleaded through another wave of tears.

"and miserable. If it wasn't for you, she would still be alive and miserable" I looked over at him, hot tears still streaming down my pink cheeks. 

"Now you can either sit here crying, or you can go back to Queens and talk it through with the girls there. I'll follow you" he told me.

"Which way?" I asked, not sure what he meant.

"whichever way you pick." he answered. I looked down at the water for a minute longer before I stood up and slipped my shoes back onto my feet. Spot smiles at me and stood up beside me. Together we walked in silence back to Queens.

---End of Chapter---

[1] if you can tell me what movie that is from, you shall receive a newsie of your choice to follow you around and make sound effects for you. =D

A/N: okay, you have the first R completed, now you just have to click a little button and finish the second R! make my day! So just click it! *reaches through computer, grabs pointer and moves it over to the 'Go' button* now click!

Shout outs- wow I do believe there are quite a lot. 

Padfootismyhero- Yay! Glad you liked it!

Matchin' Laces- I did good! I'm so relieved I did it right *beams*

Blue Boxer- ugh sorry it took so long to update! I went on vacation, then I was way too lazy to type it all from my notebook onto my computer. I just got around to finishing it. Hope you liked it!

piratechic- lol that's okay, I know whenever I'm in someone else's story I totally freak out when they accept my info. I think I used your character in this chapter, I can't really remember though because I wrote most of this a long time ago and I really don't feel like rereading it. Yeah I'm just that lazy. Hope you like this chapter too!

Saturday- my no.1 reviewer! Gah, you weren't in this chapter as much as last chapter…but you shall come back! I promise! You're probably going to hug Racey-poo more often too. Hehe. Thank you! Keep reviewing!

Trinny- thanks for the review! Hope you liked this chapter!

Taps Riffwalk- thanks! Hope you liked this chapter too!

----to all----

Thank you! I love you all! I hope I pleased you all with this chapter…it's a lot darker than the others I believe…oh well. It needed to be done. Please review again! And again when I get the next chapter out! Yay! *dances for reviews*

~!~Scout~!~

p.s. if I forgot your review I am soooo sorry! Just feel free to yell at me until your fingers hurt from hitting the keyboard so hard. 


	5. Jumping on the Bandwagon

A/N: this is what I get for not saving things. See, I had almost all of this chapter typed up, but I didn't save it. I came home from a friend's house one day, and it was all gone. Fortunately, I have it all written down in a notebook, but its not really the version I want. Okay I'm going to stop complaining now. On another note, I'm really sorry that I haven't written anything since April. that's like…::counts on fingers:: 2 months of waiting for you! I hope I haven't lost any of my reviewers with my utter laziness. After I came back from April vacation, I just didn't feel like writing. Then I never got back to opening my notebook and doing something. I truly am sorry, and now that I've posted again, I'm feeling the urge to write again lets all clap for me. Wow this is a long A/N. I don't really think there is going to be more at the end…maybe a short one. But anyway, without any further ado, I give you chapter…uhh…what chapter is this??

"Scout, it's not your fault" Everyone kept saying. The rest of that night was just a blur though. A blur of pity and remorse. I didn't want to even try to recall it. All I remember clearly was falling asleep- staring at Eliza's empty bunk. It was, in some ways, less eerie than when she was still sleeping in it. Morning eventually rolled around though, and everyone seemed to have forgotten- or tried at least- that Eliza was dead. She wasn't coming back. I realized that fact, and realized I had to move on. Beating myself up about it sure as hell wasn't going to bring her back. I needed a distraction. I got one too. That day while selling with Saturday, Racetrack came up to both of us. After giving Saturday a sweet hug and kiss on the cheek, he proceeded to tell us his business.

"We'se goin' on strike. We need odder boroughs to strike wit us. Will ya do it?" he asked with a hint of pleading hope in the backs of his eyes.

"Well, we're gonna have to ask Striker, but I'm pretty sure she'll say yes" Saturday answered. It was easy to see she was in love with Race, and he was in love with her. _Ah young love. _I thought. I think I sighed out loud, because they both looked at me kind of funny. I just shrugged and finished selling my papers for the day. Saturday ditched me; I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose, but she is a total spaz sometimes and forgets what she's doing quickly. I assumed she headed off to Manhattan with Race. I decided to head to Mama Nuss's for a bite to eat. When I got there, all the other girls were there too. I was happy. They made me feel welcome and secure and like I was loved. They were my best friends…not to sound like one of those lonely freaks who live with their mothers until they're thirty with little to no other human contact. After we had been sitting there talking for about twenty minutes, Saturday came floating through the door. She was glowing and looked kind of high. We didn't need to ask what had made her so happy. She was always like this whenever she spent the day with Racetrack. She plopped down next to me and sighed dreamily. I remembered what Race had said so I nudged her.

"Sats, don't forget to ask Striker about the strike" I whispered to her. She looked at me with a look of confusion.

"Remember? Racetrack asked us to join today?" at the very mention of his name, the dreamy look took over her face.

"Saturday!" I whispered harshly, but smiling at the same time. She looked embarrassed now.

"Sorry, I'm not usually like this…only with him…" she answered to me. Then she turned to Striker.

"Hey Striker, Manhattan went on strike yesterday. They asked us to join. Whaddaya say?" Striker looked puzzled.

"What are they striking against?" she asked.

"Lower the papers' price" said a voice from the end of the table. We all looked at whoever had said it, and realized that it was Lucky. She simply shrugged and said,

"Saturday ain't the only one who talks to Manhattan" We turned back to Striker who considered the proposition.

"we got nothing' better to do" Saturday's face lit up as Striker said that. She knew that now she would have more time to spend with Racetrack. How cute. I started to ponder this event. I would also be spending more time with the Manhattan boys. I had only ever met Race and the one with the glasses…uh…Specs! that's what Saturday said his name was. By the way she talked about the other boys, they were pretty great. I was looking forward to meeting them. Evidently, I had been pondering for too long, because the others were starting to leave Mama Nuss's. I didn't know where they were going, but I followed anyway. Turns out, we were going over to Manhattan to tell them we had joined. Not a bad looking bunch really. None of them seemed to really stood out, but that was okay. They didn't seem to notice me either, but that was okay too. I'd be introduced sooner or later. Specs noticed me though, and glared at me the whole time. I simply smirked at him, making him all the more angry. Striker started to speak to a tall blonde boy with a read bandana around his neck and a cowboy hat that had been carefully placed in between his shoulder blades.

"Hey Jack" Striker started.

"We heard about your little strike, and we're in" it looked like it took Jack a second or two to comprehend it in his head. Then he smiled.

"2 boroughs so far. We still need some more, but we're on our way now." then he spit in his hand, just like Spot had done when I first met him, and held it out to Striker. "Glad to have you aboard" we all smiled but then another boy, shorter than Jack, with brown curly hair, bushy eyebrows, and blue eyes started talking.

"So you're in this for sure? Even though Spot Conlon isn't joining?" Milkshake almost fell over. We all looked at her questioningly.

"Spot's not going?" she looked a little depressed. Then the short boy started up again.

"Nope. He doesn't think we're serious about it" Milkshake took this as a challenge to get Spot into this. She simply smiled and headed off to Brooklyn, taking Lucky with her. (did you actually believe his "little boids" convinced him to join? No, it was his girlfriend)

We stayed with the boys for a little bit- talking to our own little "cliques". Saturday dragged me over to where Race and a few other boys were standing. She introduced me to them. Each one either smiled or nodded as she said their names.

"Skittery, Snitch, Pie Eater, Itey, and of course you know Race" _not bad. _I thought to myself. We talked to them for a couple more minutes. Well, actually, Saturday talked to Race for a couple more minutes while the rest of us just kind of looked at each other awkwardly. Snitch looked the most nervous for he was shifting restlessly from one foot to another, eyes darting from me to the ground constantly. He deserved to be called Skittery, instead of Snitch. The one named Skittery wasn't the least bit "skittery", as his name suggested. Instead, he looked rather bored with this whole situation. Pie Eater and Itey weren't paying attention at all. They were using crumpled up newspaper- probably some they took from a scab- as cannonballs, and we're waging an all out war against each other. From what I could tell, Itey was winning. I too was bored. I did enjoy watching Itey and Pie Eater though. I was starting to feel bad, not talking to anyone at all. I decided to talk to Skittery, since he seemed as equally bored as me. I smiled at him friendlily.

"So you're Skittery, huh?" I asked casually. He nodded. Damn this kid wasn't a talker. I almost said 'you don't seem too skittery', but I decided against it. Instead I turned my attention to Snitch.

"And you're Snitch?" his head shot up and his eyes locked with mine. He had nice eyes.

"Uh huh" he answered nervously. He obviously wasn't good around people.

"He ain't normally like this, he just ain't good around girls he likes." Skittery spoke! My cheeks turned red, in spite of myself. Did he just say he liked me? I just shrugged and smiled. Snitch looked shocked that Skittery had said that, and pushed the side of the other boy's face.   
"what? You ain't too subtle ya know" he snickered as Snitch threw his hat at him. I smiled. They were simply fun to be around. I watched them chase each other around for a bit, until Skittery snuck up behind Snitch and shoved him onto the cobblestones. He smiled and gave him a hand up, then they both came back to me. They were grinning happily, until Skittery not-too-secretively whispered to me,

"He really does like ya though" I smirked and it was obvious Snitch had given up, for he simply shrugged his shoulders. After about five more minutes of mingling with the boys, Striker called us together. She said it was time to go, so we went. After saying goodbye to the guys first of course. Saturday was beaming all the way back to Queens.

Woo another chapter down. Not much left ya know. Time for shout outs ::beams::

C.M Higgins, padfootismyhero, Milkshake, whatever the hell you're going by these days- hehe. I liked that part too. I hope you like this chapter!! I love you!

Piratechic- you had lines in this chapter! Woo! Lol. I hope you like your lines ::smiles:: and the movie was West Side Story. You get Mush, because…well…he's built. that's my only reason really. I love you!

Saturday- okay so I totally dropped the ball on reviewing quickly. Whoops. But yes, I hope you liked your parts with Racey-poo. I love you!

Blue Boxer- thank you so much! Review again, you're such a self-esteem booster! Lol I love you!

Taps Riffwalk- I'm sooo sorry it took so long! I hope you liked this chapter though! I know it wasn't worth the wait…but maybe _I _am? Yeah I didn't think so. I love you anyway!

Fantasy3- Thankies! Review again!

I love you all. Please review again.

!Scout!


End file.
